The present invention relates to a new and useful lighting system that is particularly useful as a floodlighting system for a space such as the deck of a ship, and to a new and useful optical projection structure for a lighting system.
Current deck lamps use incandescent lamps with reflectors. While these systems provide illumination over a broad area, they are deficient in a number of ways. One of the primary issues is that they do not uniformly illuminate the deck. Directly in front of each lamp is a bright spot and the brightness decreases significantly as the distance in increased. In addition, incandescent lamps have limited lifetimes so regular maintenance must be done frequently and the risk of having a deck lamp fail is undesirably high.
An additional problem with current deck lamps is that too much light is directed off of the deck. If the deck lamp is being used on a military ship, any light that misses the deck contributes to the ship's visual signature and makes it easier to see. Finally, current deck lamps produce a significant amount of light that can be detected by night vision goggles (NVGs) which makes NVGs difficult to use. Attempts have been made to insert filters over the deck lamps to allow pilots landing on ships to use NVGs while personnel on the ship still have an adequate level of illumination, but the results are inadequate.
In the applicant's experience, illuminating a ship deck, particularly a ship deck that aircraft may be taking off from and landing on at all hours, presents a number of challenges. There is a need to illuminate a volume space on the ships deck in a way that enables pilots to take off and land at all hours, without interference with the night vision goggles they often use in such maneuvers. In addition, a lighting system needs to be optically effective, as well as cost effective. Moreover, the lighting system should project significant light to a predetermined volume space (e.g. the center of the deck), and in a way that is compatible with pilot's night vision goggles.